Oral lavage unit

ABSTRACT

A lavage unit is provided for hydraulic dental cleansing and massage having a tool piece or handpiece and water supply joined in open communication by a helically shaped length of flexible hose. For storage purposes the unit includes a pedestal for axially mounting the tool piece and for holding the hose in a stack of coils matching and surrounding outer walls of the pedestal.

I United States Patent H 1 3,597,846

{72] Inventor Reinhold M. Weiss [56] References Cited [2' l A I N UNITED STATES PATENTS PP or Find $393,673 7/l968 Mattingly 128/66 I45] Patented Aug. I0, l97l Primary Examiner-Robert Peshock I73] Assignee Parke. Davis 8: Company Attorneys-Robert R. Adams, David B. Ehrlinger. George M.

Detroit, Mich. Richards and Edward .lv Gall ABSTRACT: A lavage unit is provided for hydraulic dental lsgs g g cleansing and massage having a tool piece or handpiece and 8 water supply joined in open communication by a helically [52] US. Cl 32/22 shaped length of flexible hose. For storage purposes the unit [SI 1 Int. Cl i i a a A6 lc 19/02 includes a pedestal for axially mounting the tool piece and for [50] Field of Search 128/67 A, holding the hose in a stack of coils matching and surrounding 66; 32/40. I, 28 outer walls of the pedestal.

Patented Aug. 10, I971 3,597,846

INVENTO! REINHOLD M. WEISS BY 5 13, My.

ATTY.

ORAL LAVAGE UNIT SUMMARY AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to oral lavage units of the kind having a tool piece and nozzle for delivering water in a jet under pressure. More particularly, the invention relates to oral lavage units employing flexible hose in coiled form which are adapted for storage purposes to provide for compact stacking of the hose within the confines of the unit.

For water transfer conventional oral lavage units generally employ a flexible plastic hose which for the most part is readily managed while the unit is being operated but which can become unmanageable for storage as when the hose is returned to the storage position. In the latter case the hose may be unavoidably entangled in projecting objects, causing breakage, disruption of accessory attachments, etc. In any case, the appearance of a tangled disarray of hose is at least unsightly.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an oral lavage unit having storage means for the hose, tool piece, etc., which minimizes maintenance and presents a pleasing appearance.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improvement in oral lavage units which facilitates the interchangeability of nozzle attachments in the tool piece.

Another object is to provide a convenient arrangement of all necessary working elements at the front of the console of an oral lavage unit.

Still another object is to provide storage means for oral lavage hose which protect the latter against accidental exposure to heat, compressive forces, and the like causing leakage, loss of elasticity, etc.

These and other objects, purposes and advantages of the invention will be seen in reference to the specification which follows and the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. I is a front view of an oral lavage unit according to a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of an oral lavage unit partly broken away to show the hose storage arrangement and further broken away on line 2-2 of FIG. I to illustrate detail in the juncture of the hose and tool piece;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a front portion of an oral lavage unit; and

FIG. 4 is an illustration of details of the storage pedestal and a lower reach of the hose in a preferred embodiment of the invention.

A preferred form of the oral lavage unit ll) of the invention as seen in FIG. 1 includes a rectangular base 13 on which is mounted a deck or console I2 supporting a water supply con tained in tank I1. At the center of the console is a tool piece having stem 14, main body 15 and control valve I6. The face of the control valve in a preferred form is provided with suitable indicia indicating a scale of pressure corresponding to selected openings in the valve ranging from the off position to the full on position. On the top of the console 12 mounted in suitable insets 19 (FIG. 3) are nozzle attachments I7 of conventional form for individual insertion in the nozzle socket of the tool piece 15 indicated by I8 at the top of the tool piece. Surrounding the handpiece I is a stacked coil of hose 20.

As indicated in FIG. 2, which is a side view of the oral lavage unit, the tool piece stem 14 has a tapered configuration matching the tool piece well 23, whereas in FIG. I the profile is rectangular. This difference in profile is intentional so that the tool piece can be inserted in' the well 23 in only one of two positions, that is, with the indicia of valve I6 presented to the front of the console or in the diametrically opposite position. Ifdesired, the well 23 can take the form of an asymmetric configuration matching a like-designed stem l4 in storage position such that the indicia of valve [6 is presented always to the front of the console. As shown in FIG. 2, the tool piece body 15 has an outlet 22 joined directly to the upper end of the hose 20. The lower end of the hose extends into the body of deck Llt I2 at inlet 2i from which point it communicates with suitable pump means (not shown, housed in the deck) for delivering water under pressure through the hose 20 to the tool piece [5. As seen in FIG. 2, in broken outline is a hose pedestal 24 having spaced opposing guide means 25 (also shown in FIG. 3) in' terconnected by an upstanding backwall or backstop 26. The relative dimensions of the hose 20 and the pedestal 24 are such that the coiled hose is supported in stacked relation with the hose surrounding and contacting the outer walls of the pedestal; the uppermost coil is below or in substantial alignment with the top of the pedestal. Also in a preferred embodiment the top end of the hose is drawn around the shoulder 29 of pedestal 24 under tension in a position lying within hose groove 27. In this position the coiled hose is held under restraint by its attachment at the hose inlet 2| and outlet 22 as well as by the backstop 26, the shoulder 29, and the contacting walls of pedestal 24. The arrangement provides for a desirable frictional retention of the components for storage purposes so that the tool piece and hose do not become inadvcrtently dislodged from the unit. When it is desired to operate the tool piece the individual nozzle attachment may be conveniently removed from inset l9 and placed into the socket 18 following which the tool piece and attached nozzle can be readily removed from the pedestal free of entanglement with the coiled hose. In the operating position the coils under tension desirably align themselves in a series of even loops like the one shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4 a single loop is shown for purposes of illustration, it being realized that the remainder of the hose is in the form ofloops of like dimension and form corresponding in number to the number of layers represented in the stack as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, when the tool piece is returned to the pedestal for storage, each of the loops or coils can be conveniently returned to its respective place in the form ofa stack of layers on the pedestal with the tool piece being inserted at the center of the pedestal and locked under. restraint on shoulder 2 Plastic hose commonly used for oral lavage units is flexible, resilient and elastic. It has the property of being stretchable to form a series of uniform loops of substantially the same dim cnsion. Also, the plastic has a memory" so that when rcpeatedly stretched it retains substantially the same helical spacing. When released from the stretched position, the hose has the desirable property of being self-retracting; however, in so doing it usually becomes somewhat entangled into a disarray of coils, some of which often spill over away from the unit and are awkward to handle. With the present invention, on the other hand, when the hose is released from the stretched position the coils can be readily guided one by one beginning with the bottom coil shown in FIG. 4 over the top of pedestal 24 so that they successively fall downward into stacked arrangement uprightly around the outer walls of the pedestal (FIG. I). As shown in FIG. 4, the coiling of the hose around the pedestal is in a counterclockwise order when viewed from the top. The opposite clockwise order of coiling can also be used. Preferably the positioning of the inlet 21 should be offset to one side of the pedestal as in FIG. 2 to facilitate the same order of coiling each time for storage purposes. For simplicity the pedestal is shown as being cylindrical but, if desired, it may have other shapes, for example, with oval cross section rather than circular. It is also preferred that the pedestal be tapered vertically with the widest lateral dimension at the bottom and at least slightly narrower at the top. For example, one preferred form has a taper of about l2. The average diameter of the coils in the relaxed condition is preferably slightly smaller than the lateral dimension of the pedestal at its bottom portion. This arrangement has the advantageous result that the coil is slightly deformed when placed in position on the pedestal at the lower portion so that a frictional stabilizing engagement is generated. This arrangement desirably gives firm support for the overlying coils. A further advantage of having at least some of the coils of the stack frictionally engaged by the pedestal is that for storage purposes the coils can be manipulated downward upon the pedestal to put tension on ment.

the hose so that it will pull against the shoulder at the top of the pedestal and lock the hose and tool piece in firm engage- The deck 12. as indicated, serves to house the pump means and accessory mechanism. It additionally provides a housing 28 for the pedestal as shown in FIG 3. Thus. when the pedestal is completely surrounded by the stacked hose. the housing serves to fully confine the hose and protect it from contact, accidental or otherwise, with damaging forces, heat, etc. It also protects the hose from being accidentally dislodged by a jarring force This has the further advantage of insuring that the top of the tool piece during storage is at all times presented in a convenient position for interchanging the no:- zle attachments. In a preferred form two of such attachments are mounted on either side of the front of the console for convenient access to the nozzle socket at the top of the tool piece. The housing desirably confines the hose against interference and at the same time is left open at the top and front in the preferred form shown in FIG. 3 so that for operation the tool piece can be readily removed and drawn with the hose in stretched position away from the front olthe console.

While the invention in oral lavage units has been described in detail in the foregoing description, it will be understood that wide variation can be made by those skilled in the art of the embodiment described without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed below; it is intended that the claims which follow be interpreted to cover both the invention particularly described and any such variation thereof.

lclaim:

I. In an oral lavage unit having a tool piece and water supply input,

the combination of at least two-spaced vertical guide means defining a generally cylindrical upright pedestal,

a well for storage purposes to receive and hold the tool piece in upright position along the central axis ot lllt pedestal between the guide means,

and providing open communication between the tool plCCL' and water supply input, a length of flexible hose adapted to assume a coiled form of predetermined size when in relaxed condition and further adapted to be elastically stretched from the coiled form to provide a tensioned helically shaped extended reach of hose for operating purposes,

the relative dimensions of the coils of the hose and the lateral periphery of the pedestal being such that for storage purposes the hose is adapted when returned from the operating position to be uprightly stacked in a plurality of even coils matching and surrounding outer walls of the pedestal with the uppermost coil connected directly to the tool piece inserted in the well and with the ends of the hose being held under tension whereby the tool piece and hose are frictionally and mechanically retained and prevented from being inadvertently dislodged.

2. The combination of claim 1 including a pedestal housing open at the top and at least one side, having upright walls spaced from the pedestal.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the housing has an open side along the front of the unit, the pedestal has two up posing guide means aligned at a predetermined angle to lhopen side. the tool piece includes operating indicia, .nnl H. well and tool piece are cooperatively shaped to cause the tool piece in upright position to be held with the indicia viewable from the front of the unit.

4. The combination of claim I wherein the coil diameter is less than the largest lateral dimension of the pedestal whereby for storage at least some of the coils are elastically deformed. 

1. In an oral lavage unit having a tool piece and water supply input, the combination of at least two spaced vertical guide means defining a generally cylindrical upright pedestal, a well for storage purposes to receive and hold the tool piece in upright position along the central axis of the pedestal between the guide means, and providing open communication between the tool piece and water supply input, a length of flexible hose adapted to assume a coiled form of predetermined size when in relaxed condition and further adapted to be elastically stretched from the coiled form to provide a tensioned helically shaped extended reach of hose for operating purposes, the relative dimensions of the coils of the hose and the lateral periphery of the pedestal being such that for storage purposes the hose is adapted when returned from the operating position to be uprightly stacked in a plurality of even coils matching and surrounding outer walls of the pedestal with the uppermost coil connected directly to the tool piece inserted in the well and with the ends of the hose being hEld under tension whereby the tool piece and hose are frictionally and mechanically retained and prevented from being inadvertently dislodged.
 2. The combination of claim 1 including a pedestal housing open at the top and at least one side, having upright walls spaced from the pedestal.
 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the housing has an open side along the front of the unit, the pedestal has two opposing guide means aligned at a predetermined angle to the open side, the tool piece includes operating indicia, and the well and tool piece are cooperatively shaped to cause the tool piece in upright position to be held with the indicia viewable from the front of the unit.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the coil diameter is less than the largest lateral dimension of the pedestal whereby for storage at least some of the coils are elastically deformed. 